System Error
by Distorted Propriety
Summary: His way of life was so habitual, so repetitive that he thought it normal. He made his own reality from this routine. Yet, when someone from outside this routine comes in, everything he's worked to make falls apart. SetoJou


A/N: I wanna see how others react to my style of writing, so I'm looking for feedback! So that means, please review, even if it is only the first chapter! Tell me if it's good/bad/needs improvement, you know the drill. Thanks in advance!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! But I do own the plot…but I make no profit u-u;

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_Everything felt as if it was pushing down on him. Pushing in on him. The pressure was suffocating him. All he could see was black; opaqueness clouded his vision. Honey eyes widened, attempting to draw in any light that could be possibly reached in this vortex of strain and senselessness. He couldn't see, scent and taste were void, no sounds could reach his ear, the only thing he felt was cold. The cold wrapped around him, constricting his muscles, freezing him in his place. His limbs were restricted, he felt the pain of the ever increasing pressure that surrounded him bending and tearing at his very fibers. The cold. The pressure. The darkness. He felt so alone, so far from anything. But there was this sense of ever nearing proximity. Proximity to something- something so obscure that he could not place it. It was just so close, that if he could move his constricted arm, he could probably touch this thing. It seemed almost…inviting. So-_

Brown eyes opened slowly to a stained white wall. The cold of his dream had not yet worn off, which also might be attributed to the fact that he was currently lying on the cold wood floor shirtless. Although it wasn't winter yet, actually it was just the beginning of fall, but that didn't mean that the floor was the warmest place. He groaned, rolling onto his back, draping one tanned arm over his face. Blinking his eyes slowly, the hairs on the back of his arm came into focus, signaling that he was now fully awake. He removed his arm from his face, squinting up at the cracked ceiling. In some other part of the apartment building, the vague cries of a baby and the blaring television of some pathetic chap who fell asleep while watching some late night telemarketing alerted him of his entrance into the world of the living.

Katsuya Jounouchi had been having that reoccurring dream now since…actually he couldn't remember when it started. But it was always cut off before he was able to figure out just what that presence was. It was so irking, to almost grasp the concept of the foreboding sensation without ever comprehending it;. The cold and the darkness had affected him at first, leaving him a little shaken, but now it was so familiar he didn't spare it a second thought.

Letting his mind run blank for a moment, Jou took in the environment around him. Although it was his apartment of five years, he was so unused to waking up in the shabby walls lately. The once white walls were now dirtied with stains of old food and beer along with the natural dust that collected when one doesn't clean for extended periods of time. The couch that was pushed into one corner with a barely-functional television set was now rotting away, the jade green it had once been fading into a slipshod puke-color. The room was relatively bare, no other ornaments of decorations, unless you called used beer cans and bottles to be ornamental figures. There were also the few pairs of clothing that had managed their way from the so-called bedroom to the main room.

Recalling the rest of his house, Jou could picture the other three rooms perfectly in his mind. The room that branch off from the living room, divided by a half wall, was the kitchen. There was a small stove, with the remains of past cooked meals lining the burners, which also seemed molded over from disuse. There was a pull out table that folded up into the wall quite repulsively when it was not used. Two metal chairs were thrown about in the small space. One was overturned and the other badly tipped to one side. There was also a sink, stacked in it were dishes that had yet to be cleaned, and a bottle of soap. The two cabinets above the stove were hanging from their hinges, showing the vacancy behind them. The final fixture was the refrigerator, an odd color of mustard yellow. It hummed quite loudly, leading on the impression of it working.

There were also two doors leading off from the main room- the bedroom and the bathroom. The bathroom was a toilet that reeked horribly and a shower that the tiles were growing old and hair from bodily cleansing. The sink was almost non-existent. Someone had ripped the faucet from the wall, leaving a halfhearted attempt at replacing it. This crafted piece spat water out at the person rather than letting them use its water for any productive purpose. The mirror hung, titled to the side, blocking the medicine cabinet from the onlooker's eye. It was an extremely unattractive sight, making most wish to be in a public restroom, for even they were more sanitary, with tiled floors that were not stained so deeply that you couldn't tell its source of contamination.

Now the bedroom. Jou had not slept in their ever since his final days as a college student. He mostly kept out of that room if not necessary. He just went in there to get clothes, when he deemed it fit to change from one outfit to another that is. The room looked the most uninhabited, yet most put together. The blinds were never opened, always the faint glow from the artificial lights leaking through the old Venetian blinds. There was a dresser, a mirror, a bed, and a trunk. The bed's comforter was nice and neat, with a light layer of dust laying over it, giving it an air of antiquity and mystery. The trunk was pushed into the farthest corner, the dark wood being held together by an old lock. O light reached it, making the ominous figure protrude into the soft hues of the room. The mirror was strangely covered with a tarp, not showing what lay beneath. The dresser was the only piece that looked used. It's one door was hanging open precariously, while the other was secured into its fasteners, holding the overflowing drawers that it contained in place.

Jou was never really in his apartment for very long, so it surprised him mildly that he was able to remember the details of his space. He managed to conjure up the strength to move and get up off of the floor. Taking a glance out of the window to his right, he noticed that the city outside was now illuminated in the fluorescent lights of advertisements and streetlamps. Vaguely thankful for the lack of sunlight, he groped his way against the wall. He probably would have had a sun-induced hangover from the previous day's activities if the lights weren't already gone. Taking a forlorn glance about his disheveled high-rise, he sighed and decided that it wasn't worth it. Fumbling along the wall, relying on it to hold most of his weight, the blonde made it into the unused bedroom. Nearly throwing himself onto the flimsy structure of the dresser, he pushed aside the only impairing door to gaze at his choice of clothes.

Jou didn't really go out two nights consecutively often, yet he had reason to. Having picked up a newspaper after realizing that he knew nothing of the current issues in his society, Jou got glimpse of the main stories- two to be exact. Having a new reports on the success of his former friend and rival, Jou had gotten a leaded stomach and went to drown himself in alcohol, figuratively speaking. Having yet to forget his recent tribulations, Jou decided tonight would also be one spent at the local club.

Pulling out a pair of tight, ripped jeans, Jou slipped on a black fishnet shirt to go. This was one of his more simplistic outfits for going to the club. Applying a dash of eyeliner and slipping on two leather cuffs to each respective wrist, Jou decided that it would have to do. He replaced the eyeliner that he left on the top shelf of the bureau and closed both doors. Not bothering with a jacket, he slammed the door behind him before shoving his hands in his pockets and heading down the metallic stairs of the building. The elevator had long since been broken, leaving the stairs as the only way up or down in the building, for the landlord was too stingy to have it repaired.

When he stepped out into the cold of the night, Jou immediately regretted not taking the jacket. As it was before, the air was a biting mixture of the warm gusts of the summer and the harsh torrents of the winter. Head down, pockets stuffed with his fists, Jou headed towards the eastern part of town. Letting the air brush upon his exposed nipples, the effect of the cold went directly to the nerves of the poor blonde. Letting his body numb over, Jou felt at ease with this state of felling, or lack thereof. His feet were on autopilot, stopping at the street corners automatically as Jou waited for traffic to let for an obvious passing.

Left. Right. Straight for three blocks. Down an alley. Jump the fence. Right again. And there it was! One of the less known, yet more exclusive clubs of the east side- Toxxic. Jou skipped the line, going straight to the bouncer. Having connections with the workers always had worked to Jou's advantage, as he was allowed into the club. From the outside, it looked like an old warehouse, yet it was lined with the most high-tech electronics. Multicolored lights and fog lined the air, as well as the scent of sweat and alcohol.

Fumbling over towards the bar, Jou smiled slightly at the bar tender. The dark haired man, his name currently slipped Jou's mind, took pity and pured him a drink.

"No dancing today, eh Katsuya?" he brawled. Jou shrugged, gulping down the drink that had been prepared. Tears stung at the side of his eyes, a common effect produced from such a strong drink.

"Nah, just here for a little pick-me-up, he replied, smiling coyly. The bar tender laughed, serving him another of the strange concoction. If asked, the offset taste of tang, fruit, and sharo alcohol could make the true nature of the drink indescribable. After two, te average person would begin to feel the buzz. But Jou was no average drinker. Starting on his fourth since he had came in for that night, and only being there for a total of maybe two hours, Jou was just beginning to feel a little off.

Having a tap on his shoulder, he turned around carefully, just incase any effects of the alcohol decided to rear their ugly heads. A man with black hair and green eyes smiled flirtatiously down at Jou. Jou's face was placid and betrayed no emotion.

"Hey, wanna dance," he asked, face brushing next to Jou's ear. The sensation of skin on skin, human contact, drove Jou so far to the edge, that all he could do was deftly nod. It was always the contact that caught him in the end. He always craved human contact in the right ways, always wanting approval and satisfaction of the others. Being led by the hand to the dance floor, Jou's skin tingled happily, leaving him with a small smile on his face.

When they were both in the center of the dance floor, the dark haired one turned to face Jou. As they began to sway to the music's beat, their bodies closed the gap between them. Dancing. Dancing was one of the ways that Jou could just escape. Letting his body flow to the music and his mind getting lost in the high of having another's body pressed so close to his own and the natural euphoria of the adrenaline pumping through you while you dance, Jou could bask in this feeling forever.

Before he knew it, his partner had pulled him from the dance floor, telling him that he'd buy him a few more drinks. Being handed a small shot glass, the green-eyed man smiled, sipping at his own drink. Jou downed the shot immediately, the buzz presently making its way up his spine. Oh, how he loved that buzz.

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Jou was once again on autopilot when he was returning to his home. The first rays of sunlight were coming up, illuminating the sky in a rosy color. The past nights' events were already fading in his mind. Either that or his mind was already putting up a wall between his self and his memories.

The failure of his memory also resulting in the blonde not knowing how many drinks he had consumed during the course of the night. The street went in and out of focus on in, his senses failing him time and again. A small flashing light in the distance captivated his attention as he continued his way down the block. It switched from blue…to green…to pink….to an off orange. The colors seemed to drain and reappear in a sort of bizarre melody. If he hadn't been so fixated on light, he might have noticed that he was stepping onto one of the busier street in the neighborhood.

With a sharp honk interrupting his thoughts, he looked to his left just in time to see a sleek black car stop inches form him. The car multiplied from one…to three…then back to one, repeating this cycle. As the car door opened, a tall figure stepped out, yet Jou couldn't focus on it. Without warning, the world spun and turned black and cold.

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A/N: Like it? It's only the first chapter, so there was lack of dialogue, I know. I just wanted to set a background for what'll happen next. Reviews make me happy! 


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